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Why Advertising's Most Powerful Female Creative Thinks So Few Women Are Able To Break Through

Susan Hoffman, Wieden + Kennedy

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Wieden+Kennedy executive creative director Susan Hoffman

When we published our rankings of the Most Creative People In Advertising back in October, we received criticism from several readers who felt the list failed to include enough women.

On one hand, these readers were absolutely right. Of the 38 people we honored on our list, only four were women - and each of them was included as part of a creative team or partnership that also included a man.

But on the other hand, there was only so much we could do. It's widely known that women account for fewer than 5% of advertising's creative director positions, and the nominations we received mostly reflected this imbalance - either by excluding women altogether or by including those who have not yet built up a strong enough creative track record to land them on our rankings.

This dearth of accomplished portfolios was confirmed by a recent conversation we had with Wieden+Kennedy executive creative director Susan Hoffman.

In speaking with us, Hoffman shared some of the struggles she has faced as a woman over the course of her 30-year career - first as a female art director trying to make it in a male-dominated business and later as an executive working to increase diversity at one of the world's most decorated creative agencies.

Hoffman said that while Wieden+Kennedy works hard to hire women and minorities, the agency can never become desperate enough to hire an unqualified woman based only on her gender. And a recent visit to an industry conference in support of female creatives revealed to her just how few women have demonstrated they can meet W+K's creative standards.

"I went to The 3% Conference, but I didn't see a lot of great work there," Hoffman said. "I didn't see a lot of portfolios, but the few I saw, it was like 'Well, I know she's a woman, but I don't think I'd hire her.'"

"I'm sure there's talent out there, we just have to dig, dig, dig."

Hoffman said this void is caused in part by advertising men who can be difficult to work with, and as well as the issues many women have trying to balance their work ambitions with their responsibilities as mothers and wives.

"I remember years ago, there was somebody that was an art director and he had no kids, and all he did was work," Hoffman said. "His work was fabulous, and I would just get so mad because I had to go home at night - not mad that I had to go home, but mad that I didn't have that extra time to make my work even better. It's hard to balance that."

Still, Hoffman's career is testament to the fact that achieving this balance in the advertising industry is certainly possible. Ranked No. 2 on our list of the Most Creative People In Advertising (alongside former creative partner Mark Fitzloff), Hoffman came up with the idea for Nike's iconic "Revolution" ad and has managed hit campaigns like Procter & Gamble's "The Best Job" and Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like."

She says women hoping to achieve similar success in the industry need to love advertising and be prepared to devote themselves to it, as she did when she moved away from her children to open several of Wieden's international offices.

"It's very doable, but I think it scares a lot of people," Hoffman said. "I didn't think I could do the work honestly, but my kids are fine. They're not in rehab. At least I hope they're not."